


Fuck off, Flash

by Nanerich



Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bullying, Gen, PSA, very concerned and worried Irondad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21917110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nanerich/pseuds/Nanerich
Summary: What is gonna happen, once the Avengers find out about Flash?Peter knows he can definitely do without that, given that all the Avengers can do is go big and all out. And with Flash, that's the last thing Peter needs right now.
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Avengers Team
Comments: 2
Kudos: 109





	Fuck off, Flash

It's been a few weeks since Tony introduced the kid as the newest Avenger. They were not surprised to see that Stark had recruited Spider-Man, he had been part of their Civil War, but they were a little surprised that he was a just a teenager. But now that they got to know each other more and more, Clint could see that there was so much more to Peter. He was actually a really fantastic kid and he and Clint got along great.

Really great, actually. They had a similar sense of humour and interests and made a fantastic team. Tony wasn’t always too happy about that, he suspected that was motivated by jealousy, a bit at least. Their shenanigans were dreaded in the compound though. With Clint in the vents and Peter on the ceiling… dream team! 

Peter, now that was a unification of snark and sass and a quick wit. In all honesty, he had made Clint speechless a few times and he could not let that stand… He tried some nicknames every now and then to rile the kid up, tried everything from calling him ‘baby-face to ‘tinker-doodle’, though his favourite was ‘itsy-bitsy-spider’, but all they got him were grunts and giggles and some eye-rolls. And instead of getting annoyed or something, Pete just shot back with ‘feather-butt’, ‘whoomp-di-dumb’ or ‘giggle-bunny’. High schoolers were just too creative with nick names.

So, maybe things should be a bit more personal than that… Not in a mean way, but he couldn’t let this teenager stay ahead of him. When he walked into common area, Peter was working on his homework with some help from Tony; Nat, Bucky and Steve were lounging around as well, their noses buried in books. This was it, now or never.

“There he is, Penis Parker!”

“Fuck off, Flash.” Peter didn’t even look up from his book, en contraire to the grown-ups who first looked at Clint before turning their attention to Pete.

“Pete, who is Flash?”

Only now, Peter looked up, almost embarrassed. “Nobody of interest. Sorry, didn’t mean to swear.” Peter turned his attention back to his equations, trying to ignore Tony being concerned.

And so was Clint, because that ‘fuck off’ was definitively not directed toward him.

“Ok, Clint, we will discuss later why you’d call him Penis. For now, though… Flash, I heard that before. Your classmate, right?”

Peter ignored Tony, but that would not go by well, because as they all knew, Tony was not one to be disregarded.

“Peter Benjamin Parker. Look at me. What is up with Flash that you’d cuss him out like that?”

“Does he call you Penis or what?”

Slowly, everybody assembled around the table where Peter was still intently staring on his equations. “Can we please get back to physics?”

Without saying a word, Tony got up to fetch his laptop and started typing. The tension was high, you could probably cut it with a knife. No one really dared to do or say anything and stared silently between Peter and Tony.

“Ok, here we go.” After a few moments of silence, Tony spoke again. “Eugene Thompson, also known as Flash.”

“NO!” Peter jumped up and webbed the laptop out of Stark’s hand. “Like I said, nobody of interest, so we can just drop it…”

“Kid, what’s going on?”

“Peter. We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s happening.” Tony sat back down next to the kid, turning to him. “Please. I’m really getting worried. And so are they.”

“Fine.” Peter took a deep breath, before answering: “I will tell you, if you promise to keep calm and not make a big thing out of it. Deal?”

Oh, that was not a good start. Peter only looked at the table, almost nervous.

“I will make no such promise. Sorry, but it sounds really bad, so no.”

Helpless, Peter looked around the room at the others, but Stark was right.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m with Stark. I can’t promise not to do anything about it unless I now, what ‘it’ is.”

“Ditto”, Barnes agreed.

“Yeah, me neither.” Clint sat down opposite the kid. “We are offering our help, making sure that you’re alright, that’s a non-negotiable element of being part of this group of weirdos.”

That got him a chuckle. “Ok. Eugene is a bully. And he calls me Penis, amongst other… shit. But I can handle it!”, Peter quickly added, as he saw the worried faces.

Fucking bullies. Clint felt himself getting angry, partly on Peter’s behalf, but, well, he had his fair share of being bullied. That’s what being different gets you.

“The question is not whether you can handle it, because I don’t doubt that you can, it’s the matter of having to handle it.”

“Just because you can endure something, doesn’t mean you have to.”

“Or doesn’t give anyone the right to put you through it”, Natasha continued Bucky’s statement.

Cap got up and walked up to the boy. “Do you know why I joined the army? Not because I like fighting, or because I wanted to kill anyone. It’s because I don’t like bullies. No matter where they are from or in what shape or form they express their power or superiority… And that hasn’t changed. So, if there is something I can do, I will do it.”

“Thanks.” Peter smiled and looked around the group. “It’s really nice of you guys, but also unnecessary. As long as he focuses his energy on me, others are fine. And I know that he is wrong about me, after all I am an Avenger. He is actually a giant fan of Spider-Man, so he’s really playing himself”, he added with a grin.

“Oh Peter.” Tony exhaled deeply. “Damnit, it’s hard being mad at your stubbornness when you’re being so noble.”

“I know”, Peter shot back with a smile. “But that’s why I’m begging you, please don’t go after him! Stuff like that always blows up in the wrong way, so please, please, just let it go.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Damnit. Peter had really hoped to keep this secret from the guys. Not because he was ashamed or scared or anything like that, but the last thing he wanted was an all-out Avengers initiative against Flash. Because unfortunately, all they could do was go big, go all over board, way to extreme, which would put Peter in a really weird spot. There would be way too much attention on Peter and not matter what, it wouldn’t help anyways. He might lay off Peter for a while, but it wouldn’t last long. But it would probably get much worse. Telling a grown-up never helped.

But thankfully, they didn’t push it any further and let it go. Or at least that’s what Peter thought and hoped for. Until he got to school the next day, where they were called to assembly. At first, he didn’t think any of it.

“Today we want to talk to you about an issue that has taken hold of our school. And that is bullying.”

“Oh shit.”

“What’s wrong?”, Ned, who sat next to him, whispered.

“Yesterday the Avengers found out about Flash.”

“Now that’s a coincidence…”

“Really, Ned? We’re talking about Tony Stark here. I just hope, he doesn’t single me out or anything like that…” Peter buried his face in his hands and didn’t dare to look down to the make-shift stage, fearing to see his mentor there. _Please, Tony, please don’t make this worse than it already is!_

“And for this topic we have received a special PSA. So, without any further ado, give your attention to Captain America!”

Wait, what? They wheeled the TV in and Steve’s face appeared on the screen. “So, you’re a bully.”

“Ugh!” A loud groan went through the rows.

“I thought he promised you to stop doing them?”

Peter was just as surprised as Ned and just as annoyed as his classmates. “He did! Damnit.”

“I have a message for all you bullies out there and so do my friends Hawkeye, Black Widow, the Winter Soldier and Spider-Man.”

“What?”

“Pete, please tell me you didn’t…”

“I didn’t really, I promise!” What the fuck did they do now?

By now, Nat, Bucky, Clint and a Spider-Man had assembled around Steve.

“Man, that’s your suit and all!”, Ned hissed.

“Now, if you are a bully, we”, the on-screen Spidey pointed at himself and the others, “do not like you. At all.”

“He even sounds like you!” Ned was completely shocked and confused.

“Oh, of course! It’s Loki, he can shapeshift.”

“But why would he turn into you?”

“Because I told them that Spidey is Flash’s fav”, Peter exhaled.

“And that’s what we Avengers are here for – to fight against bullies.”

“Oh, come on, are all Avengers such losers?” A few rows in front of them, Flash scoffed loudly. “I mean that Cap is a spoil sport is nothing new, but Black Widow and Spider-Man? I thought they were cooler than to do those PSAs!”

Apologetically, Ned looked over at him.

“Yeah, whatever”, Peter grumbled back. He told them to drop it, but of course they didn’t and made everything worse; now they successfully turned Spider-Man into a ridicule. “Great job, guys”, he moaned.

“Come on, be happy that the Avengers like you so much! I mean, it could have been way worse… Mr. Stark could have shown up and made a scene or something.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I’m a little worried why he is not in the video.”

“Maybe he trusts them enough to take care of things”, Ned suggested.

Peter snorted. “As if!” Maybe a bit too loud, everyone turned around. “What?”, he shot back at the stares. “No, but seriously”, he continued quietly, “Tony is way to protective of me to let anyone handle it. And he is definitively to dramatic not to make a big deal out of it.”

“But… but you don’t think he’d go after Flash directly?” Ned looked over with big eyes, sounding almost conspiring. “You know, all Ironmanstyle?”

“What? No, he would never hurt a kid. Loki might, but Tony, no. He would give him a major and intimidating talk, before getting him expelled or something like that. You know, all that power stuff.”

“After which Flash’ll do anything to get back at you.”

“Let’s hope that Mr. Stark knows that, too.”

Of course, that PSA did not work. Though at least, today’s bashing was directed towards Cap (“How can any villain ever take him seriously or as a threat?”), Bucky (“He used to be a brain-washed assassin, how can he see himself having the moral highground?”) and a lot more along those very unkind lines.

“Ned, would you be mad if I went to the compound instead of our Lego-Date?” Remorsefully, Peter looked at his friend, who supportively nodded.

“Of course, I get it. Though I would like to watch you take on the Avengers”, Ned laughed.

“Some back-up would be nice… I could call Mr. Stark and ask if it’s cool if you come along.”

“Really?”

“Gimme a sec.” Peter got the phone out his pocket and dialled Mr. Stark’s number, who picked up right away.

“Kid, hey, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good, how about you?”

“Everything’s alright here. Damnit, Dum-E, put the fire extinguisher down, I’m just fixing the lighting! Sorry, kid. So, what’s up? Miss us already?”

“Sort of. You mind if I come by today?”

“Please, you’re always welcome! But I thought you and Ned – stop it, you stupid robot! No, come on… Butterfingers, please, you know I love you!”

Beside him, Ned, who listened in as well, giggled quietly, and Peter had to suppress a laugh as well.

“Sorry, little domestic in the lab… Anyways, I thought you and Ned have a Lego-Date? You know I love having you around, but Ned is definitively a better influence than the rest of us…”

“Thank you, Mr. Stark!”, Ned squealed, beaming with excitement and pride.

“Oh, hi Ned. How are – Dum-E, stop that! – How are you?”

“Doing good, thanks.”

“So, let me guess, you’re calling to ask if Ned can come along.”

“Only if it’s cool with you. But he has been over before, so it’s not a big deal, right?”

“But I totally get it if it’s not cool”, Ned continued.

“Let me just check that there are no secret things going on, because then I can’t let civilians in, security and insurance reasons, you know… FRIDAY, anything like that going on today?”

“No, boss”, they heard the AI, “no confidential missions or meetings today.”

“You heard her, guys. You need to be picked up?”

“Nah, we’ll take the bus. Give Happy a break instead.”

“Alright”, Mr. Stark laughed, “I’ll see you two later!”

“Bye, Mr. Stark!”, they called in unison before Peter hung up.

“Alright let’s go then!”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

As they rode for the compound, Ned thought back to the first time he went there, how nervous he was to meet Tony Stark and the Avengers. And today he was driving there because he and Peter were mad at them! As weird as it felt to say that, it felt just as good.

“Hey, FRI, can you please call Cap, Bucky, Nat, Clint and Loki to the kitchen?”

“Hello Peter, hello Ned. I’ll inform them momentarily.”

“Thanks, FRI!”

FRIDAY and KAREN still overwhelmed Ned a bit. He had gotten to ‘know’ KAREN a lot in the last months and had gotten used to talking to an AI, at least in the vicinity of Peter’s room. But FRIDAY, controlling an entire, huge building…

“Hey itsy-bitsy, back already?” Mr. Hawkeye greeted them, grinning widely. “And hey, Ned, right?”

He just nodded. He knew that – technically – he was supposed to be angry with them, but his inner fanboy was hard to control. After all, Mr. Hawkeye remembered his name!

Peter was completely silent, and from the confused and worried looks, the Avengers shot each other, that didn’t happen too often.

When Loki finally showed up, Peter almost erupted. “What the fuck you guys? ‘So, you are a bully’. Is that what you call letting it go? By the way, great job ridiculing the Avengers, really well done.”

“They already showed the video? Damn, Cap, you really do know all the right people.” Impressed, Loki raised his eyebrow.

“And you – you just impersonate me like that? Now both Peter and Spider-Man are the laughing stock at school!”

“Really? I thought my impression was rather spot-on…”

Peter rolled his eyes and motioned to cuss him out a little more, but Mr. Captain America spoke first. “We are sorry, we didn’t ask you. But I don’t understand how we ridiculed you or ourselves.”

This seemed like the right moment for Ned to join in. “It’s the PSAs. Nobody takes them seriously and… well, in turn no one takes you seriously either.”

“To paraphrase Flash: ‘I knew, Cap was a spoil sport, but I thought that Black Widow and Spidey were better than that!’”

“Really? That’s what they think about me?”

Peter and Ned nodded, and silence fell over the room.

“Is that why you made me promise never to make one of them again?”

Again, Peter nodded. “Trust me, meeting you was not just weird because of Germany…”, he said with a grin.

“Shit, Pete, I’m really sorry. Damn, I think none of us thought it would play out like that.”

“We really just wanted to help.” Mr. Winter Soldier patted his shoulder.

“I promise never to interfere with your school without your knowledge ever again.” Mr. Captain held his pinkie out to Peter. “Pinkie Promise!”

“Pinkie Promise!”

“Good, now that that’s cleared up – you don’t happen to know what Mr. Stark plans on doing, do you?” With a nervous grin, Peter looked around the room.

“Good question.”

“You’ll have to ask him that.”

“Sure. Do you know if he’s still in the lab?”

“Nope I’m right here.” Mr. Stark walked in and fell on the chair opposite Peter. “What revenge have I planned against the child that bullies the Spiderling?”

“Please, Mr. Stark, it’s ok. I don’t need to give him any more reasons to be antagonistic.”

“Relax, I’m not going all Ironman on him. Instead I thought I’d give him a job.”

“Huh?” Perplexed silence fell over the room.

“Ok, I didn’t expect that.”

“You want to be his boss?” Ned was dubious.

“Nope, I’ll make Peter his boss.”

“Oh god!” Peter dropped his head on the table, earning him some very confused and concerned looks.

“Mr. Stark, to get rid of bullying you can’t use a power imbalance like that. If Flash has to be Peter’s subordinate, he’ll be even worse during school. If Flash is in control, well, we already know what that looks like”, Ned explained, gently patting Peter’s back.

“Oh.”

“Kid’s right, Tony.”

“Ok, Pete, then what do you suggest?”

“To just drop it. In two years, I’ll be at MIT – hopefully – and I doubt I’ll ever see him again. So, just leave it, please.”

Wow, Mr. Stark looked really hurt. Not because Peter didn’t like his idea, but because he chose to suffer instead of letting Mr. Stark help him.

“Yeah, we can’t do that though.”

“Kid, we’re not just standing by, watching you get hurt.”

“We’re the fucking Avengers, god-damnit! We can take down Ultron and Loki…”

“Phhh, you got lucky”, Loki grumbled.

“Well, we’ve saved the world from all of that, but we can’t keep you safe from one kid?”

“So, what, you want the Hulk to smash Eugene?”, Peter snorted.

“Great idea, I’ll go get Brucie!”

“Loki sit down. We are not beating up kids.”

“Even if they are dicks”, Clint added with a grin.

“Spoilsports”, Loki grumbled.

“Can you please take this serious? The kid is suffering and you’re doing nothing!” Wow, Mr. Stark looked like he was close to tears!

“But that’s just it!”, Peter sat down next to him, speaking really softly. “I’m not suffering. I mean, sure, I don’t like it, and it sucks, but I know that he’s just jealous or whatever.”

“That still doesn’t give him the right to treat you like this!”

The conversation continued like this; Peter’s “I can take it!” against the Avenger’s “but you shouldn’t have to!”

“Ok, I really don’t want to tell you what to do”, Ned interrupted the Winter Soldier, “but you do realize that you’re running around in circles, right?”

The Avengers stared at him and Ned felt slight panic filling him and his cheeks flushing just a tad.

“Alright then, Ned. Help us out. What do we do?”

Ned took a deep breath, before answering. “I think that if you do want to do anything, you first need to get your credibility back.”

“Ned’s right”, Peter continued, “because the way you’re viewed right now… well, no one will take anything you have to say seriously.”

“Come on, my PSAs aren’t that bad”, the Captain protested.

Peter and Ned only looked at one another, unsure how to let him down easy.

“We both know you. And we know you’re awesome and badass and a hero. But those videos…”

“They are so lame!”, Ned blurted out. Whoops, that was a little more rash than necessary…

“Yeah, they really are”, Peter agreed.

“But really, if Midtown knew how you actually are, they’d take you absolutely serious!”

“Thanks, I guess…”

“Ok you two, how do we make Cap legit?”

“Well you have that goody-two-shoes-image, stickler for the rules and stuff…”

“Oh my goodness!” Bucky started laughing, almost tears in his eyes. “If anyone would have told me that back in the 30’s I would never have believed it!”

Wait, was Mr. America a rebel back in the day? Ned could not imagine that.

“Oh, I always had to pull that punk out of fights he started no less! Every time I introduce him to a nice girl, he ends up beat up in an alley somewhere or planning how to best enlist – illegally – in the army.”

“Damn.”

“Ok, so that’s what our classmates need to see, the badass that can kick some serious butt instead of fainting at the f-word.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Mr. Stark had been silent for a while, but now he angrily banged his fist on the table. “Who gives a fuck what some teenagers think about Capsicle? How about we take care of the real issue?”

Damn, he was really worried about Peter. Ned exchanged a quick glance with his friend.

“Alright then, Stark, we’re all ears”, Ms. Romanoff continued, “how do we get Peter out of this?”

“I don’t know.” He looked defeated, his head in his hands.

“Ok, listen. I do not deserve you guys making me ‘cool’ again, for what I pulled. So, I think, to make up for it, I might have an idea.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Thursday, 14.30. School was over and the plan was ago.

“Ok, Pete, ready or not, here we go.” He had his comms in all day long, and now he heard Cap’s voice.

And the masses of students that exited the building stopped dead, all staring at the street across their school.

“Wait, is that Captain America?”

“Oh god, he’s totally beating that guy up!”

“Is that an alien?”

“Shit, I can’t believe that!”

Knowing full well what was going on, Peter and Ned fought their way to the front, trying to hide their absolute elation and excitement. It was indeed some alien that Mr. Rogers was fighting: it was a disguised Loki, blasting some totally harmless light beams at Cap, both of them acting the hell out of their fight.

All students cheered Cap on, who moved the fight around, just as they practised.

“Everybody, get back!”, he yelled at the students as they got closer, just happening to move towards Peter and Ned. “Are you ready, kid?”, he whispered.

“Oh yes”, Pete whispered back, hiding his grin.

“Good. Loki, turn up the heat!”

And just like rehearsed, Steve turned to the students, “get back, damnit! Just listen to me, fucking hell!”, before being hit in the back by Loki’s blasts and falling dramatically to the ground.

“Shit!” A loud gasp went through the masse of learners.

“So… that’s what you call a hero. Well, Cap, it ain’t the 30’s any more. Should have stayed under the ice.” The transformed Loki flowed up to him, motioning for one final and ‘deadly’ blow.

“NOOOO!” Peter jumped up, pushing the ‘unconscious’ Cap away, the light beam ‘injuring’ his leg.

“Oh what, you want to go up against me? A fucking child? Yeah right, I’d like to see you try…”

As aware as Peter was that all this was staged, it was weird standing opposite a ‘villain’ without his suit and using his powers. Instead he pretended to limp on his ‘hit’ leg, still keeping Cap behind him.

“Step away, or I’ll go through you, you… pip-squeak. And I won’t even break a sweat.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen, disco ball.” All of a sudden, the ‘evil sorcerer’ was webbed up and there was Spider-Man? That was not part of the plan. Peter exchanged a quick glance with Ned, who looked just as confused as Peter felt.

“Everyone alright?”

MR. STARK? Peter felt his chin drop. Fucking hell. He actually wore Peter’s suit. It looked weird on him, didn’t exactly fit perfectly. No one seemed to notice though, everyone just stared in awe.

“Are you ok?” Spider-Tony walked up to Peter.

“Yeah, I think so. Thank you for saving my life Mr. St… Spider-Man.”

“You are very welcome, kid. Good job on saving Cap here. The Avengers thank you.”

“The Avengers are very welcome!”, Peter grinned up at Spider-Tony, who was probably smirking at him. It was hard to tell with the mask on.

“Alright, you need to see a doc, let someone look at that leg of yours. Do you need a lift?”

“Nah, my aunt works at a hospital. I’m set.”

“Good. I need to go now, get him”, he nodded at Mr. Rogers, “to safety. Also, Spider-Man is needed at the Avengers today. And so is his guy in a chair.”

“Got it”, Peter winked, before ‘limping’ back to Ned, who helped ‘support’ Peter.

Spider-Tony lifted Steve over his shoulder, which was probably a lot harder for Tony than he let on. With what were probably personalized web-shooters, Spider-Tony took off. “Stay in school kids!”, he called as he flew of. It was a bit shaky and unsteady and really funny to watch. When he landed on the nearest roof, he pulled webbed Loki up and the three disappeared behind a wall.

“Damn, Peter, are you alright?”

“Man, you saved an Avenger!”

“Shit, dude, that was so awesome!”

His classmates surrounded him and Ned, patting his shoulder, praising him and what-not.

“Yes, he’s a hero, but he’s also hurt, so do you mind letting us through, so I can get him home?”, Ned yelled.

“Oh yeah, sure, of course. Will you be alright?”

“Ned’ll take care of me. Don’t worry. See you tomorrow!” With that, he and Ned made of around the corner, making sure they were out of eye- and earshot, before they started laughing.

“Oh yes, Pete, you are so the hero of the day!”

“I know! So cool!”

“Mr. Stark as you was a little weird though, right?”

“Yeah, that suit doesn’t really fit me…” The three Avengers came down the building, Mr. Stark lowering them on a web. A little awkwardly, but they managed.

“Uhm no, it doesn’t”, Peter laughed. “And we’ll have to practice some more with the webbing, because that was way to gawky. Can’t have you destroy my rep.”

“Well, I think I sold it. And as if you could work my blasters”, Tony grunted. “But it does look better on you”, he said as he pulled the mask off his face and over Peter’s head.

“I agree. Thanks, you guys. Was really awesome to be their hero for once.”

“Good. I’m glad I could make up for everything.” Mr. Rogers looked up at him, a little sheepishly.

“You definitively did”, Peter beamed.

“Well, do you guys want to come over for the afternoon?”

“Nah”, Peter smiled, looking at Ned, “we have a Lego-Date to make up for.”


End file.
